Ecclesiastes 5:8 {7}
Good News Translation
Don't be surprised when you see that the government oppresses the poor and denies them justice and their rights. Every official is protected by someone higher, and both are protected by still higher officials.

New Revised Standard Version
If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and right, do not be amazed at the matter; for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them.

Contemporary English Version
Don't be surprised if the poor of your country are abused, and injustice takes the place of justice. After all, the lower officials must do what the higher ones order them to do.

New American Bible
If you see oppression of the poor, and violation of rights and justice in the realm, do not be astonished by the fact, for the high official has another higher than he watching him and above these are others higher still—.

Douay-Rheims Bible
If thou shalt see the oppressions of the poor, and violent judgments, and justice perverted in the province, wonder not at this matter: for he that is high hath another higher, and there are others still higher than these:

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

If thou shalt see the oppressions of the poor, and violent judgments, and justice perverted in the province, wonder not at this matter: for he that is high hath another higher, and there are others still higher than these:

thou seest

Ecclesiastes 3:16 I saw under the sun in the place of judgment wickedness, and in the place of justice iniquity.

Ecclesiastes 4:1 I turned myself to other things, and I saw the oppressions that are done under the sun, and the tears of the innocent, and they had no comforter; and they were not able to resist their violence, being destitute of help from any.

Psalm 12:5 By reason of the misery of the needy, and the groans of the poor, now will I arise, saith the Lord. I will set him in safety: I will deal confidently in his regard.

Psalm 55:9 Cast down, O Lord, and divide their tongues; for I have seen iniquity and contradiction in the city.

Psalm 58:11 And man shall say: If indeed there be fruit to the just: there is indeed a God that judgeth them on the earth.

Proverbs 8:17 With me are riches and glory, glorious riches and justice.

Habakkuk 1:2,3,13 How long, O Lord, shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? shall I cry out to thee suffering violence, and thou wilt not save? . . .

marvel

Zechariah 8:6 Thus saith the Lord of hosts: If it seem hard in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days: shall it be hard in my eyes, saith the Lord of hosts?

1 John 3:13 Wonder not, brethren, if the world hate you.

Revelation 17:6,7 And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And I wondered, when I had seen her, with great admiration. . . .

matter

Isaiah 10:5-7,12 Woe to the Assyrian, he is the rod and the staff of my anger, and my indignation is in their hands. . . .

Isaiah 46:10,11 Remember the former age, for I am God, and there is no God beside, neither is there the like to me: . . .

Habakkuk 1:12 Wast thou not from the beginning, O Lord my God, my holy one, and we shall not die? Lord, thou hast appointed him for judgment: and made him strong for correction.

Acts 4:27,28 For of a truth there assembled together in this city against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, . . .

Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways!

for

Isaiah 57:15 For thus saith the High and the Eminent that inhabiteth eternity: and his name is Holy, who dwelleth in the high and holy place, and with a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Luke 1:32,35,76 He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father: and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. . . .

regardeth

1 Kings 21:19,20 And thou shalt speak to him, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Thou hast slain: moreover also thou hast taken possession. And after these words thou shalt add: Thus saith the Lord: In this place, wherein the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth, they shall lick thy blood also. . . .

Job 20:19-29 Because he broke in and stripped the poor: he hath violently taken away a house which he did not build. . . .

Job 27:8-23 For what is the hope of the hypocrite if through covetousness he take by violence, and God deliver not his soul? . . .

Psalm 10:17,18 The Lord hath heard the desire of the poor: thy ear hath heard the preparation of their heart. . . .

Psalm 12:5 By reason of the misery of the needy, and the groans of the poor, now will I arise, saith the Lord. I will set him in safety: I will deal confidently in his regard.

Psalm 58:10,11 The just shall rejoice when he shall see the revenge: he shall wash his hands in the blood of the sinner. . . .

Psalm 82:1 A psalm for Asaph. God hath stood in the congregation of gods: and being in the midst of them he judgeth gods.

Psalm 83:18 And let them know that the Lord is thy name: thou alone art the most High over all the earth.

Psalm 140:11,12 A man full of tongue shall not be established in the earth: evil shall catch the unjust man unto destruction. . . .

Isaiah 3:15 Why do you consume my people, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord the God of hosts.

Isaiah 6:2-6,12 Upon it stood the seraphims: the one had six wings, and the other had six wings: with two they covered his face, and with two they covered his feet, and with two they flew. . . .

Isaiah 8:4-7 For before the child know to call his father and his mother, the strength of Damascus, and the spoils of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of the Assyrians. . . .

Micah 2:1-3,9 Make thee bald, and be polled for thy delicate children: enlarge thy baldness as the eagle: for they are carried into captivity from thee. . . .

Micah 3:1-4,9-12 For he shall go up that shall open the way before them: they shall divide and pass through the gate, and shall come in by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the Lord at the head of them. . . .

Micah 6:10-13 As yet there is a fire in the house of the wicked, the treasures of iniquity, and a scant measure full of wrath. . . .

Zechariah 7:9-13 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, saying: Judge ye true judgment, and shew ye mercy and compassion every man to his brother. . . .

Malachi 3:5 And I will come to you in judgment, and will be a speedy witness against sorcerers, and adulterers, and false swearers, and them that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widows, and the fatherless: and oppress the stranger, and have not feared me, saith the Lord of hosts.

James 2:13 For judgment without mercy to him that hath not done mercy. And mercy exalteth itself above judgment.

James 5:2-7 Your riches are corrupted: and your garments are motheaten. . . .

higher than they

1 Chronicles 21:15,16 And he sent an angel to Jerusalem, to strike it: and as he was striking it, the Lord beheld, and took pity for the greatness of the evil: and said to the angel that destroyed: It is enough, now stop thy hand. And the angel of the Lord stood by the thrashingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. . . .

Psalm 95:3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

Isaiah 37:36 And the angel of the Lord went out and slew in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And they arose in the morning, and behold they were all dead corpses.

Matthew 13:41,42 The Son of man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all scandals, and them that work iniquity. . . .

Acts 12:7-10,23 And behold an angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shined in the room. And he, striking Peter on the side, raised him up, saying: Arise quickly. And the chains fell off from his hands. . . .

Context
The Futility of Wealth
8If thou shalt see the oppressions of the poor, and violent judgments, and justice perverted in the province, wonder not at this matter: for he that is high hath another higher, and there are others still higher than these:9Moreover there is the king that reigneth over all the land subject to him.…
Cross References
1 Peter 4:12
Dearly beloved, think not strange the burning heat which is to try you: as if some new thing happened to you.

Proverbs 22:16
He that oppresseth the poor, to increase his own riches, shall himself give to one that is richer, and shall be in need.

Proverbs 24:12
If thou say: I have not strength enough: he that seeth into the heart, he understandeth, and nothing deceiveth the keeper of thy soul, and he shall render to a man according to his works.

Ecclesiastes 3:16
I saw under the sun in the place of judgment wickedness, and in the place of justice iniquity.

Ecclesiastes 4:1
I turned myself to other things, and I saw the oppressions that are done under the sun, and the tears of the innocent, and they had no comforter; and they were not able to resist their violence, being destitute of help from any.

Ecclesiastes 5:9
Moreover there is the king that reigneth over all the land subject to him.

Ecclesiastes 7:7
Oppression troubleth the wise, and shall destroy the strength of his heart.

Ecclesiastes 8:9
All these things I have considered, and applied my heart to all the works that are done under the sun. Sometimes one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.

Ezekiel 18:18
As for his father, because he oppressed and offered violence to his brother, and wrought evil in the midst of his people, behold he is dead in his own iniquity.

Ecclesiastes 5:7
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